Major Events:

Cautious optimism was the name of the game, as Uncle Sam’s economic reports printing strong figures cut into the disappointment that the Fed wasn’t as hawkish as market players had expected earlier this week. Of course, it also didn’t hurt that far-right leader Geert Wilders didn’t get as much support as uncertainty-averse investors had feared.

Nikkei, which is still hurt by a weaker USD/JPY, is down by 0.31% while the Shanghai index also slipped by 0.24%. Hang Seng is on track to closing in the green with its 0.29% gain while Australia’s A SX 200 is also up by a decent 0.49%.

Meanwhile, a weaker dollar has pushed up dollar-denominated oil prices. U.S. crude oil prices is up by 0.11% to $48.86 while Brent crude also clocked in a 0.06% gain to $51.80.

Market Movers:

JPY – The yen gained pips across the board ahead of the weekend. One possible reason is profit-taking ahead of the Vernal Equinox Day holiday on Monday.

USD/JPY is up by 22 pips (+0.19%) to 113.45, EUR/JPY is up by 27 pips (+0.22%) to 122.22 and GBP/JPY is up by 21 pips (+0.15%) to 140.13.

The comdolls also had a field day against the lower-yielding currency with AUD/JPY rising by 31 pips (+0.36%) to 87.18, CAD/JPY inching 36 pips (+0.42%) higher to 85.20, and NZD/JPY climbing by 29 pips (+0.37%) to 79.32.

Every day, I will present to you my findings and daily commentaries on what recently happened in the economic arena, possible shifts in sentiment, economic events to watch out for, and their effects on currencies.

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